


Party Hat

by StarburstGalexy



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Avocato & Little Cato (Final Space) - Freeform, Fluff, Gary Goodspeed & Little Cato - Freeform, Gary Goodspeed & Mooncake - Freeform, Gen, Major Spoilers for Season 2, The Obligatory 'Gary's Birthday is His Dad's Deathday' Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 08:24:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20963474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarburstGalexy/pseuds/StarburstGalexy
Summary: Gary has been feeling down in the last couple of days. Little Cato decides a birthday party would cheer him up, but Avocato has doubts about it.So he does something about it.(Alternatively: Avocato is low-key scared of how much he cares, but sucks it up and keeps on caring anyway.)





	Party Hat

**Author's Note:**

> Intended 100% as platonic, but feel free to take as pre-garycato. I like garycato just as much, maybe I write them someday.
> 
> This is set sometime after Avocato's return and Invictus feelings are dealt with but before Avocato bonds with anyone else on the ship, so as mentioned in the story, Avocato doesn't care much about anyone other than Little Cato and Gary (at least not yet).
> 
> Probably doesn't take place in the final space because I think they would have bigger problems then. 
> 
> Author is big gay for Sheryl Goodspeed but this is Avocato's POV, so. Disclaimer on that.
> 
> Criticism is appreciated.

Avocato is a man of instinct.

Alright, his instinct can fail him sometimes, it happens – but mostly, going with it is usually the best choice he’s got. So he has learned to do just that, not letting the hunch go until it dissolves one way or another.

Instinct is why he is wary when Cato declares - “It’s dad’s birthday tomorrow!” The dad in question not being Avocato but Gary, the shared honorific not as hurtful as he once took it to be but just fucking confusing at this point, because Cato still calls them both ‘dad’ and it takes a good two seconds before Avocato realizes his own birthday is a good month ahead and Cato is talking about Gary.

No, Avocato’s wariness has nothing to do with the jealousy that had once plagued his mind, nor with the fact that he had no idea when Gary’s birthday was when Cato did. His concern is about the birthday boy himself; Avocato may not know his best friend’s birthday, but he knows _him,_ and he knows Gary has not been at his peak lately.

Actually, Gary seemed to steadily lose his spark each day. Well aware of the drop, Avocato had been trying to tie it to a reason, with no success. His best guess had been that all the trauma Gary has gone through finally hit a depressing spot... or something.

Until now.

Tomorrow is Gary’s birthday? That can’t be a coincidence.

Avocato opens his mouth, about to speak his concerns – but ultimately decides against it, not wanting to kill Cato’s excitement to finally throw a surprise party for a parental figure that is actually a surprise and actually a party. Besides, he can’t simply betray Gary’s feelings when it’s clear the human doesn’t want it to be brought up. There is no way Mooncake, Quinn, and to be fair, even Cato didn’t notice something is up with Gary, but best they can do for him is to leave him alone.

Cato probably thinks a birthday party will cheer him up. Avocato could have agreed, if he hadn’t just connected the said birthday to his best friend’s recent mood shift to downtown.

He slips out of the room as Fox starts squealing something about confetti. He wants to check up on Gary, dutiful both as a friend to him, and as a father to Cato – if this surprise thing backfires because Gary has some issues with the day, the boy will feel like absolute crap no matter how much Gary will try to convince him not to, feeling like crap himself in return.

Funny that. Avocato isn’t used to being oh-so-considerate. Not for anyone other than Cato, and even with his boy, Avocato would often find his emotional intelligence shortcoming for the situation. But in the last couple of months, he found it has been coming easier to him, not for most people around, but for his son and for his best friend.

He doesn’t really like to dwell on it. Avocato cares about people he cares about, yeah, whatever. But occasionally, when the empathic thought process requires more than a couple steps, it throws him off guard, the hyper-awareness making him more nervous than he’d like to admit.

That’s why he falters before the door of his and Gary’s shared room, not sure what the _hell _he is even supposed to _say. _

He came here for a reason, though, so he takes a couple of seconds to suck it up and knock anyway.

“Hey man, it’s Avocato,” he calls, briefly feeling stupid for the identification. Why would Gary not recognize his voice? “…Mind if I come in?”

The hesitance is foreign on his tongue. Months ago, aboard Galaxy One, Avocato wouldn’t even be asking for permission to walk into Gary’s room if he thought something was up – and they didn’t even share a room then. He’d simply get in, lean against the doorframe, and call Gary out on his bullshit.

The situation now is very different though, isn’t it? For once, Avocato has no idea what is stressing Gary out, because for _once_ the ever-expressive Gary isn’t shouting it off his lungs, and he clearly wants to be alone if him still being in the room is anything to go by. Avocato feels like a stranger intruding.

How is he supposed to call Gary out on his bullshit if he doesn’t know what is the bullshit?

The approval comes in the form of Gary’s garbled voice mixed with a stubborn “Chookity!” Deeming it enough, Avocato waits for the unlocked door to slide open, immediately greeted by Mooncake.

“Hey Mooncake,” Avocato acknowledges while the door closes behind him. He leans on the wall next to it, his back and one foot on the metal surface. The carefree posture helps the hyper-awareness he felt when coming in, at least a little bit.

Gary greets Avocato with a cheer almost true to his brand. Almost. “Hi, Avocato!” His voice takes on a gratingly high pitch at the last syllable as he fumbles out of the bed, getting an ankle tangled in his sheets and effectively falling on his butt. Gary still jumps up on his feet, pretending it didn’t even happen, and extends his arms to both sides in faux welcome. “Hey man, great to see you, what brings you to my humble abode?” He laughs in that one _annoying_ way that isn’t even his actual laughter, and rather the rattling beak of a nervous seagull.

Unimpressed, Avocato glances at Mooncake, who rolls their eyes before meeting his. “_Our_… humble abode?” He raises an eyebrow with a telling glimpse at his own bunk.

“Oh. Right. Uh. Wanted to take a nap? Well, I’ll be going then-” Gary makes a move toward the door, which Mooncake stands in the way of. “Oh, come on, what is with _you _today? You have been _demanding_ I get out of the room for _hours_, and _now_ you’ve changed your mind?”

“Chookity.” Mooncake points at Avocato, who in turns clears his throat.

“Yeah, uh, Mooncake has the right idea, dude. I did come to talk to you,” Avocato admits, frowning to himself when he feels himself faltering again. Pretending to go for his own bed like Gary assumed he came for would have been a smooth dodge, without having to interrogate Gary for things his best friend clearly doesn’t want to share. But that would defy his purpose for being here in the first place. If he wants to not have wasted his time, he has to go through with it. 

Gary scratches the back of his head, averting his eyes. “Sure thing, but if you’re here to talk about me, can we…” With an exasperated sigh, his robot hand runs down until it settles on his neck, while he makes a circular motion in the air with his other arm, trying to give a message something akin to ‘don’t mind whatever I’m about’. “…like, not do that? I am kind of not in the mood.”

“I know it’s your birthday tomorrow,” Avocato blurts out. Then promptly slaps himself in the forehead. He’s well aware of Gary frozen in place before him. Great start. Definitely won’t scare Gary off when the guy is being all too self-reserved. “Look man, I just figured-”

“How did you know?”

Robot arm clutched in his free palm, Gary is looking at the ground, but from this angle, Avocato can pick the squinted eyes. “I…” Avocato sighs, pushing himself from the wall so he can look at his friend right across him. “Little Cato found out. And well, I don’t know, I expected you would be blaring it out of airhorns that it’s your birthday a week ago, which you obviously aren’t, so I figured I’d-” What? Check up on him? “-come ask what’s up,” he finally ended with a shrug.

Mooncake floats between the pair. Eyebrows lifting in concern, Mooncake asks Gary if he’s alright. “Chookity pok?”

“They- Little Cato and others, they are planning something, aren’t they,” Gary says, as a statement rather than a question.

Avocato shrugs again.

“Look I’m gonna- I’m gonna have to gather energy if that’s the case. I can’t just, you know… yeah.”

Avocato doesn’t know, and Gary doesn’t elaborate. In fact, Gary doesn’t really say anything else. He walks back to the bed, pulls the sheets over his head, and doesn’t really move for a little while after that. Mooncake initially opts to hover over his head, but they eventually turn to Avocato, who has, in all honestly, been standing uselessly, stuck between the obvious message for him to leave and the desire to… be a friend. Avocato sucks at it to hell and back, but the urge to at least try has been getting stronger lately.

Yet, again, he _sucks_ at this. When Mooncake tries to urge him toward Gary to do _something_, he almost exclaims as much. “What do you even expect me to do?” He whispers as loud as a whisper can be and still be described as a whisper, running his hand through his fur.

“Chookity pok pok.”

Good point. When in doubt, think of what the least reliable person you know would do, and do the opposite. He has lived by this trick for as long as he can remember, he taught Cato as much, and yet… Kind of funny, actually, for his own words to cycle around until they come back to him in the form of planet-destroying-blob squeaks.

Well then.

Thinking about it - KVN would be jumping around on Gary’s bed and pulling on the skin of his face, repeatedly asking him what’s wrong.

So Avocato does the opposite.

“I’m here for you, man,” he states. “I’ll… be around if you need a bud.”

And leaves.

* * *

Avocato finds Cato in the control room. Not surprising – Cato has been gnawing on the chance of learning anything new since when he started crawling, and as Avocato has observed, he really digs ship stuff. Especially guns and piloting. Honestly, Cato is already a spectacular pilot and no, Avocato is not biased. Just really, really, really proud of his son.

Also he really would like it if Cato stuck to flying the ship rather than running the guns.

“Hey son,” Avocato greets, settling on the left armrest of captain’s seat so he can look at Cato working in his own station.

“Hi dad!” Cato responds, briefly looking up from his screen to meet Avocato’s eyes. The way Cato always brightens up when Avocato is in the room, more than his father ever remembers him being, twists Avocato’s heart with a bittersweet sadness. Avocato thanks whatever led him to die instead of the other way around, because he doesn’t think he could survive what Cato went through even for a second. And yet, let alone surviving, Cato made friends, learned to fix basically anything a ship can require repairing for, teared various enemies multiple new assholes, all before coming back to save Avocato himself.

Cato is the best son – the best person, Avocato could ever ask for. And if there is one thing Avocato genuinely envies Gary about, it’s guiding Cato while he grew so much in such a short time.

“What are you up to?” Avocato asks. He has already deduced what each cable sticking out under Cato’s screen is good for, what with having operated in that seat since he came back, but he still wants to hear it from Cato.

“Well,” Cato shrugs, smiling up to his dad, not even looking at his fingers masterfully bending a pair of wires and hooking them together, “ya never know when you need to hijack a ship when running away from a planet’s entire army.”

Avocato raises his eyebrows. Something about that doesn’t quite add up. “So let me get this right. You can repair a whole goddamn lightfold engine in _minutes,_ and you’re telling me that you’re _just learning_ how to hijack a ship?”

“Uhh...” Chuckling nervously, Cato scratches the back of his head. “I guess I never got around to it?” He grins, sheepish.

Avocato rolls his eyes, but he is smiling pretty damn wide – not even trying to hide it. Encouraged, Cato turns to hotwiring, albeit with ears still perked up, alert to his father’s voice.

“Little Cato, I… actually have… a suggestion about Gary’s party.”

Cato looks up again, his excitement almost instantaneously spreading to his face. “Finally! I mean, dad, I know you’re not awfully big on parties, but you are his best friend, _and _you probably know him the best, so-”

Avocato doesn’t think he’s the one who knows Gary better in this room anymore, but he doesn’t want to argue about it – nor does he want to bring it up at all. “About that… how about we… don’t?”

“Wha…” Cato’s ears drop. His voice still keeps defiance when he argues back, though. “Dad, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but d- I mean Gary hasn’t been his best lately. And-”

“And you think this may be just what he needs?”

“…maybe.” Cato looks down. “Cookies and celebrating himself… Those always cheer him up.”

Avocato sighs. Briefly glancing around to check the perimeter, he leans toward his son, who in turn stretches closer toward him. In a voice low enough to be considered a loud whisper, he says, “Look son, between you and me, his birthday _miiight_ be the reason why he’s all bummed out lately.”

“How do you know?” Cato whispers back.

“Let’s just say he didn’t take the mention of it very well.”

“Huh…” Cato leans back until he hits the console. “I guess that makes sense. I thought he’d be blasting airhorns about his birthday, like, a week ago.”

“Right?!”

“So you think the surprise party may backfire?”

Avocato nods. “Just keep it under control until…” Until what? “…until I figure it out. Okay? Maybe we can find a way to make it happen and Gary alright with it.” He hadn’t planned on adding the last part, but something in him doesn’t want Cato’s efforts to be trashed like that, which is _definitely_ not a detail he is used to considering.

Downcast, Cato nods. “I’ll need to figure out what to tell the others. And, _damn_, I thought Gary would actually wear a party hat, too.”

Avocato laughs at that – wearing a party hat for his birthday is one of the things Cato never managed to get him to do. “You’ll figure it out,” he says, uselessly but with a faux confidence, because saying useless things with enough confidence until they sound wise is a father’s superpower, and basks in his son’s whines as he ruffles Cato’s mohawk out of shape.

* * *

When Avocato doesn’t have something he must do or somewhere he is dragged to, which is rare, nowadays, there are two things he usually opts for: weapon maintenance and stargazing out the ship’s windows. 

His guns are all stacked on the walls of the small closet he and Gary call their room, and it’s currently occupied by Gary in whatever birthday angst he’s going through. True to his word, Avocato leaves him alone, finding solace in being alone.

Maybe too much solace. His body is demanding sleep, not giving a crap about a supernova happening a good few light years away or about how he isn’t anywhere close to his bed. If there is a downside of having learned to sleep in any and all space over the years, it’s having to fight against shutting down in the corner, which in turn tires him out even more.

He only realizes he’s been dozing off when there is movement next to him to startle him awake, something fuzzy tickling his fur from where his head fell on his shoulder.

Avocato yells in surprise and sits up with a jump, arms drawn for hand-to-hand combat. Luckily for Gary, Avocato recognizes him soon enough. With a sigh, Avocato settles back in his spot, supporting his right elbow on a raised knee and slightly turning toward his best friend, who, for some reason, decided to sit so close that the wool blanket on his shoulders presses against Avocato’s side, hours after midnight according to Crimson Light’s clock.

“What the _hell _is up with you, Gary?”

“You mean like in general or just about now when I woke you up from your little _catnap_?” Gary looks at him with a teasing smirk and squinted eyes, well aware of how his cat jokes irritate Avocato.

Avocato rolls his eyes with a frown, but a part of him is relieved to see Gary closer to his usual self, rather than pretending to be his usual self. “Let’s go with both.”

“I dunno, I just, wanted to see you, I guess…” Gary scratches the back of his hair, embarrassed enough to provoke his nervous habit but obviously not embarrassed enough to admit with that deeper tone of his, “I think I need a friend right about now.”

Avocato gets more comfortable where he sits, visually indicating that he’s not leaving anytime soon.

“Have you seen mom?”

That was a question he didn’t expect, as well as the realization that he didn’t even notice the woman missing. Avocato can’t say he’s grown to care much about Sheryl Goodspeed; he knows she is Gary’s mother, he knows Cato is all too excited to have a grandmother, and he knows there is something tense between her and Gary that is trying to get better. He still doesn’t trust her – he doesn’t trust anyone on this ship except for Gary and Cato - but other than that, Avocato had been content to ignore Sheryl and she usually did likewise.

But he would notice if an escape pod had left the ship, or if Sheryl’s shift at the control room felt anything but smooth, so she must be still aboard. Just out of sight, somehow.

Avocato shakes his head.

“Good. Good.”

It takes exactly three seconds of silence before Avocato’s patience runs out. “Gary, will you tell me what the hell is going on with you today? ‘Cause this brooding all over the ship thing is getting old fast, baby.”

Avocato’s consideration for Gary’s privacy had a good, long run while it lasted.

Gary ignores the question at first. “So, you know what the party entails? A cake? Some booze? Because I will be very concerned with intergalactic alcohol law if Cato can easily get his hands on one. Or should I say paws? You know, I never got to ask you guys this, but do you call them hands, or paws?”

“There won’t be a party, Gary. Not if you don’t want one.”

“Huh.” Gary sinks a bit into the wall. “I guess I don’t.”

“Don’t you?”

“Do I?”

“Do you?”

“Don’t I?”

“Stop.” Avocato already feels a headache coming. “Seriously dude, what is the deal with your birthday?”

Gary takes a deep breath. “Okay, I can- I think I can vent it out, I _should_ probably talk about this to someone. That’s what I was hoping to do, anyway- What are you doing_?_”

“Looking for a remote,” Avocato casually says from where he’s patting the space beside him. “So I can fast-forward the bullshit break and _get to the point.”_

“_Fine_, you impatient grouch.”

Gary lets his head fall toward Avocato’s shoulder – huh, he supposes they are doing that now. Gary is usually the one who decides what level of physical contact they are, and when he takes it up a notch, he always leaves room for Avocato to escape. So his head is not quite sitting on Avocato’s shoulder, ready to be pushed away or avoided altogether. Avocato responds to the gesture by adjusting until he gets better support from the wall behind them, ready to handle the weight with little effort. Only then Gary finally settles.

“Thing is, and get ready my furry friend because this shit is just plain dramatic – my dad kind of died on my birthday?”

“Ouch?” Avocato asks.

“Ouch,” Gary affirms. “And I just don’t feel right celebrating anything on that day.”

Avocato pauses for a second.

Two seconds.

“That’s it?”

“Dude, I’ve just told you about my lifelong trauma, you can’t just respond with ‘that’s it question mark’.”

“Yeah, but, Gary…” Incredulous, Avocato looks down on his friend. “Why just not say that?”

“To others? Dunno, man, it’s complicated.”

“How?” Avocato challenges.

“Where do I start?” Gary brings his hands to the front and starts counting on one hand. “First, I thought I was well over it the last couple of years – no hiding under the blanket for seven years and proud, actually - but now it’s so crowded, my mom is here, and people actually would like to celebrate that day? There is this mish-mash of ‘yeah I deserve to actually celebrate my birthday for once in, what, 20 years?’ and ‘oh nooo I am betraying my dad’s memory boo Gary boooo’.”

Avocato thinks of Cato, and about him starting to feel guilty about his birthday just because his father is dead. Despite all his episodes about feeling forgotten and replaced the first few weeks he was back, Avocato finds his heart stinging against the idea. Ultimately, he would not want a day Cato so cherished to be in ruins for something that is not even his fault.

With a breath, Gary continues. “Second,” a second finger is pressed down in tandem, “My mom. We’ve been getting along okay lately but she disappeared the last few days. She says she stopped blaming me for my dad… but remembering the anniversary of my birth is _also_ the anniversary of his death can’t be good. And Avocato, I’ve just got her back, man. She finally stopped wishing I was never born and I really can’t be rubbing my existence on her face. Not _that_ day.”

“Well, when you put it like that… I actually want to rub it on her face.”

Gary gives a dry chuckle. “It does sound awful when I put like that, doesn’t it?”

It’s hard to think of a way where it doesn’t.

“My mom’s assholery aside, third and most important thing…” Gary holds up a third finger and shakes it for emphasis. “I am not the only one who lost a parent here. Ash and Fox got side-dicked by Clarence – oh, remember that slimy merchant you got me to, gave me the skin that destroyed a family – yeah he was their dad and suddenly gave them the finger, so there is that. Not to mention Nightfall…” He sighs and pulls the blanket around him tighter. “She and Ash had a real connection there. And I don’t know if Little Cato has anything lingering from _your _whole shtick, but he probably does. I don’t want to accidentally trigger things by bringing up my father’s death and the cruel irony of its timing, yo.”

Funny. And here Avocato has been struggling with even _feeling_ considerate. Gary is naturally way too ahead on that front, has already mastered the art of empathy.

“Oh, and there _is_ a fourth. You told me they were already planning a party, well, not a party specifically but it’s not very hard to guess, and it’s just sucky to walk up there and just cancel it.”

“That’s a shitty fourth.”

Gary shrugs.

“I get it. You don’t want to be a pain in the ass – which is rare, because you often are…” Avocato grins proudly when Gary gives a small laugh at that. “…but you also want to move on.” In the middle of his sentence, he gets inspired with something Gary would probably say if the situation were reversed. “You _are_ allowed to move on.”

“I know that… in _theory._ But it feels a bit more complicated, Avocato.”

Avocato sighs. Damn _feelings. _Not just Gary’s, but also his own, because he is struck with now-familiar urge to be a friend for Gary the second time _today_. That he accidentally promised Cato he would try to come up with something doesn’t help either.

Well, if Gary feels so awful celebrating on his father’s death-day…

Inspired, Avocato sits up, putting both his hands on Gary’s shoulders so he can look at him in the eyes. “Would you feel better about this whole thing if you had your party sometime later?”

“You mean, you want to celebrate my birthday _not_ on my birthday?”

“Yeah. Baby steps. You try to have fun on a day that has jackshit to do with your dad, and maybe you’ll feel better about your birthday next year. If not, just call a raincheck on the balloons again. Who cares?”

“Ooookay… but what am I gonna tell the kids?”

“I think I might have an idea for that.” After an assuring pat on Gary’s shoulder, he stands up. “First, I need to find Little Cato.”

* * *

“So, did you find who has the next birthday?”

Cato nods. “Quinn’s birthday is in ten days.” He looks at Avocato. “I think it can work, if they both agree to it.”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“Why _would _they?” Cato retorts. “Neither of them are dying to celebrate their birthdays.”

“Son,” Avocato starts seriously, kneeling in front of Cato and putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “there is not a single person on this ship who would deny you celebrating their birthday if you asked.”

Cato smirks at that. Oh, he _knows. _“Good point.” He starts running for the door, not because he’s in any actual rush but because he’s Little Cato and Little Cato deems walking too bland.

At least until he makes it to the doorstep. There, he falters, visibly yielding against the question in his mind and turning toward his father. “Hey, dad… Why are you trying to make this happen? I mean, I know you don’t exactly love birthdays, and I know you always went with yours because, well, they were never parties, right, ‘twas just the two of us. And you cared about my birthday, but I am your son, so… Yeah.”

Avocato shrugs, folding his arms on his chest and letting the gravity work on him until his back is to the wall. “You may be right about that one thing. Maybe this is what Gary needs.”

Cato grins knowingly. “Oh yeah? Think seeing you in a party hat is also what Gary needs?”

“Don’t push it, kid.”

* * *

Five days after his actual birthday, Gary is yelling on top of the kitchen table, surrounded by balloons that might be a bit too dark colored for celebrations. Technically, it’s Gary _and_ Quinn’s mutual birthday celebration right in the middle of their respective birthdays; but Gary is attracting a tad more attention with his volume and constant kicking KVN into some closet.

The robot somehow keeps getting out. It just makes Gary yell louder.

All things considered, he seems to have gotten out of his mourning the last couple of days. His morale has been going upwards since they left his birthday behind, symmetrical to how it was going down before it. Today, he is as excited about a party as Avocato thought he would be, celebrating both himself and Quinn, getting drunk more on chocolate-chip cookies than actual booze, somehow.

(Cato did end up finding booze, after all, which briefly freaked Gary the fuck out. Avocato doesn’t see what the big deal is – must be a culture thing.)

Sheryl is still keeping out of sight, but Sheryl isn’t Avocato’s friend, so frankly, he doesn’t care. Gary can deal with his mom when he feels up for it. And right now, he doesn’t look particularly concerned with it.

“So a little cat-bird told me something interesting.”

In fact, he looks rather sinister as he approaches the corner Avocato has retreated to, hands behind his back and a grin on his face. Unimpressed, Avocato raises his eyebrows. Gary’s ‘sinister’ is about as dangerous as HUE trying to one-up AVA – determined, but nothing to stay alert for.

Until Gary _jumps_ on Avocato, to which Avocato lets a hysterical meow out in surprise. Gary snaps something over Avocato’s head, slightly stinging when thin rubber slams against his cheeks-

“Did you-”

“Just get you ready to par-tey? _Hell yeah_.” Gary slaps Avocato’s hands away from the cone-shaped party hat he has just stuck on, all the while he turns away and yells to grab his son’s attention. “Hey, Little Cato!”

Cato’s gasp is so deep that it sounds like a terrible flute toward the end.

“Ohmi_gosh-_” Cato’s eyes are big, glassy, and – is he _tearing up?_ Squeezing his own cheeks in wonder, Cato admires the sight. “It looks everything I dreamed to be and better.”

Cato lived alone with Gary for too long, Avocato decides. “You are a terrible example for my boy,” he says to Gary, admittedly a tad hypocritically because Avocato is, well, Avocato.

Gary blows a raspberry. “Psh. I am a fantastic role model.”

Then he hugs Avocato, slightly awkward with how his embrace imprisons Avocato’s arms in it. “Thanks, man. This… really helps with the birthday feelsies. Didn’t solve ‘em, but you know. Baby steps.”

“Baby steps,” Avocato confirms. He tries to return the hug, but only after Gary relaxes his hold enough for Avocato’s arms to move, he can wrap them around Gary’s waist. “Happy birthday, Gary.”

Avocato feels an impact around his hip, and glancing down, he sees that Cato has invited himself to the hug. On an impulse, Avocato kneels until he can hold Cato from his waist and lifts him up. Cato is way too old to be carried like this, and would probably protest it any other time - but he doesn’t seem to mind for the occasion, contently spreading his arms to embrace both his dads as Gary laughs with joy. For the first time, Avocato feels proud of himself for being considerate, for finding a midway to make this stupid party happen for no other reason that it makes Gary and Cato happy.

Then Mooncake crashes into them from the other side and squeezes into the space between them, and Avocato probably needs to break away before everyone else notices the dumb group hug he’s found himself in… but, nah. He’s already wearing a party hat. He can extend the exceptions just for today.


End file.
